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DE Zach Harrison, Ohio State
Knowing what you know now, with the full power of hindsight behind you: where would you have taken DE Tanoh Kpassagnon if you had to do it all over again? Again, you have to draft him -- so what round would you have taken him. And my guess is almost none of us would have spent a 2nd rounder on him. We did win a Super Bowl with him, but he's just kind of a body that played the position not-horrifically, and that's someone you'd rather drop a midrounder on than a premier pick.
Enter: Zach Harrison. He is absurdly long and large for a pretty athletic passrusher, but he's close to being the exact same prospect. He was underproductive in college, however, when he's already faster and more powerful than most of his opponents. I don't know how that's going to translate when that advantage is largely reduced against NFL tackles. Kpassagnon was a virtual Greek god at the Combine, too, an absolute athletic freak. Harrison is freaky as well, but he's not on K-pass's level. He's long and strong, and is going to be able to get some push, and maybe refine some technique to leverage his way to the QB a few times a year. But the Chiefs already have a nicer version of that in DE George Karlaftis, and it's just not obvious to me that you want two of those guys starting as bookends.
He does play the run with nasty aggression, so his Venn diagram is a lot closer to being a circle with Karlaftis than it is with Kpassagnon. And with both DE Frank Clark and DE Joshua Kaindoh on the verge of being cut, the Chiefs may have to return to the passrusher well a few times, including in the middle rounds, where I think Harrison makes the most sense. I just don't think he offers the upside you like, but maybe in the midrounds they're just looking for a reliable body who can hold the fort down when called upon.
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